The rising hills, the slopes
of statistics
lie before us
the steep climb
of everything, going up,
up, as we all
go down
In the next century
or the one beyond that,
they say,
are valleys, pastures,
we can meet there in peace
if we make it.
To climb these coming crests
one word to you, to
you and your children:
stay together
learn the flowers
go light
(1974)
Gary Snyder (1930-) was a beat poet and appeared as Japhy Ryder in Jack Kerouac's book The Dharma Bums. He studied Rinzai Zen with Miura Isshu in Japan over a period of fifteen years in the 1950s and 60s and his writing and poetry weaves together Zen with his love of nature, dedication to environmental causes and respect for the indigenous people of North America. This poem is taken from his book, Turtle Island, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1975.
of statistics
lie before us
the steep climb
of everything, going up,
up, as we all
go down
In the next century
or the one beyond that,
they say,
are valleys, pastures,
we can meet there in peace
if we make it.
To climb these coming crests
one word to you, to
you and your children:
stay together
learn the flowers
go light
(1974)
Gary Snyder (1930-) was a beat poet and appeared as Japhy Ryder in Jack Kerouac's book The Dharma Bums. He studied Rinzai Zen with Miura Isshu in Japan over a period of fifteen years in the 1950s and 60s and his writing and poetry weaves together Zen with his love of nature, dedication to environmental causes and respect for the indigenous people of North America. This poem is taken from his book, Turtle Island, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1975.